eHANDBOOK

Part II

2018
Flow
Measurement
 www.ControlGlobal.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS
The art of flowmeter selection  4
Here’s what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s ugly about the most common technologies.

Wireless flow measurement  8

Power remains the essential challenge; here are ways to meet it.

Custody transfer flow measurement  11

Why can a DP flowmeter be used for gas but not liquid?

Vortex flowmeter calibration and rangeability  15

How can we determine the best size to balance accuracy against pressure drop?

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eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  2

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The art of
flowmeter selection
Here’s what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s ugly about the most
common technologies.
By Greg Mcmillan and Stan Weiner, PE
Stan: Measurements are our window into
the process. We don’t know what we don’t
measure, and nearly all the process or utility
inputs are flows.
Greg: Co-founder of the ISA Mentor Pro-
gram, Hunter Vegas, gives us considerable
insight as to what flow measurements can
and can’t do. Since this is such a vast topic,
we focus on liquid flow.
Stan: How did you gain your knowledge?
Hunter: Sizing and selection of instrumenta-
tion is becoming a dying art. The subject is
almost never taught in schools, and suppli-
ers may not know or appreciate all of your
plant operating conditions and require-
ments that determine the lowest lifecycle
cost. Like most veterans in the automation
www.ControlGlobal.com
industry, I learned at the knee of several
very patient mentors. One thing to realize
right off the bat is that the pipe must be full
of liquid for all of the meters discussed.
Greg: How do you choose the right flowme-
ter for a process liquid flow application?
Hunter: It is important to realize that
virtually every flow instrument has its
strengths and issues, and there is no
“one size fits all” solution. Therefore, it is
important to understand the limitations of
each flow technology and choose the one
best suited for your budget and process.
Since space is limited in this format, we will
quickly hit the good, bad, and ugly for each
of the most common flow technologies
(ugly being show stoppers that will usually
eliminate that technology as a viable
eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  4
 www.ControlGlobal.com

option). So cue the cowboy music, throw on

your poncho, pull down your hat, and let’s
look at our options.

Stan: How about vortex meters?

Hunter: The vortex meter measures

volumetric flow. Liquid moves past a
lb/h
bluff body in the middle of the flow
°F
stream and generates vortices. A sensor
lb/cf

fact
counts the vortices as they are shed to
°Brix
determine liquid velocity. Good: The
meter is inexpensive to buy and install. It
requires no special freeze protection (just
insulated pipe). It works regardless of the
fluid conductivity and has no moving parts,
Reliable and accurate mass flow
and density measurements
though polymerization can plug ports
with dairy products
and/or affect the sensors on some vortex
designs. Bad: The requirements for straight
OPTIMASS series –
technology driven by KROHNE
meter runs upstream and downstream are
• Complete portfolio of Coriolis mass flowmeters
particularly long for accurate readings. The for food & beverage applications, from single
bluff body post makes a wonderful startup straight to bent tube designs

strainer. If a mass flow is desired, the flow • Entrained Gas Management EGMTM: immune to
gas entrainments/two-phase flows; e.g. milk
must be temperature-compensated. It intake, ice cream, cream cheese, melted cheese
generally needs fairly clean fluids. The • A unique single tube design for highly viscous
and shear sensitive products, like yogurts
flow coefficient is affected by kinematic
and fruits
viscosity. The meter differential pressure • 3A, FDA, CIP/SIP
(DP) drop is less than an orifice plate, but
more than a magmeter. Ugly: Vortex can’t
handle slurries or viscous or slow-flowing
fluids. It can’t handle high vibration, pulsing
flow, cavitation or entrained air. Probably
the biggest issue is low-flow cutoff: a vortex
meter can’t read low flows, so if the flow products
drops below a certain value the meter will solutions
services
read zero.
More facts: www.us.krohne.com

eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  5


Greg: What about magnetic flowmeters
(magmeters)?
Hunter: The magmeter measures volumet-
ric flow. Conductive liquid moves through
a magnetic field and generates a voltage
sensed by two small electrodes. The voltage
indicates liquid velocity, which is converted
to flow. Good: These meters are fairly inex-
pensive to buy and easy to install, requiring
no special freeze protection (just insulated
pipe). They have virtually no obstruction to
flow and can handle slurries, thick/viscous
fluids and corrosive materials since only
small electrodes are exposed to the pro-
cess. Only a short meter run is needed. The
electrodes can tolerate some coating, but
not extensive amounts. Magmeters have no
moving parts, can read down to very low
flow rates, and will remain accurate despite
changes in density, temperature, etc. Bad:
Heavy coatings can keep a meter from
working. Some magmeters can’t handle a
steam-out and vacuum condition because
it collapses the liner. If a catalyst is injected
upstream of a magmeter, the electrochemi-
cal reaction can cause erratic flow readings.
If the pipe is nonconductive, grounding
rings must be used. Ugly: The process liquid
must have a minimum conductivity under
all conditions. The meter will read nothing if
conductivity is too low.
Greg: My favorite flowmeter, if the materials
of construction are available and lifecycle
cost is justifiable, is the Coriolis flowmeter.
www.ControlGlobal.com
It’s a true mass flow measurement regard-
less of composition. No other flowmeter can
get close to its accuracy and rangeability.
What is your take?
Hunter: The Coriolis meter measures mass
flow. Flow moves through vibrating tubes
(or a single tube). Vibration frequency
determines density; vibration phase deter-
mines mass flow rate due to Coriolis effect.
Good: The meter requires no special freeze
protection (just insulated pipe). The meter
works well regardless of fluid properties
(e.g., conductivity, density, pressure, tem-
perature, viscosity). There are no moving
parts and it requires no special meter run.
Coriolis flowmeters can read very low flows,
and the flow and density readings are very
accurate. They can measure liquids with
some entrained air. Bad: The meter is very
expensive but installation is generally not
difficult. Pressure drops are higher for dual
tubes than for single tubes, and will always
be higher than a magmeter. Single-tube
meters pose minimum flow obstruction, but
they’re usually much longer than a bent,
dual-tube meter. Ugly: Coriolis meters are
not an option if you are on a low budget.
Stan: What about differential pressure (DP)
orifice flowmeters?
Hunter: The DP orifice meter measures
volumetric flow. Liquid moves through a
restriction orifice in a pipe and creates a dif-
ferential pressure (DP) due to the Bernoulli
eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  6

Effect. Good: The meter and orifice are
inexpensive to buy. It works regardless of
the fluid conductivity, and has no moving
parts and no low-flow cut-out. However,
rangeability of a DP meter, even with dual
transmitters, is significantly less than a
magmeter, and extraordinarily less than
a Coriolis meter. Bad: Installation is more
expensive than vortex due to the costs of
impulse lines, freeze protection, etc. A long
meter run is needed to read accurately. The
permanent pressure drop is significant. If a
mass flow is desired, the flow must be tem-
perature-compensated, and composition
must be constant for the temperature effect
on density to be accurate. DP orifice gener-
ally needs fairly clean fluids, and the meter
reading is based on a specified fluid density,
viscosity, temperature, etc. Ugly: DP orifice
meters can’t handle slurries or processes
that tend to plug the impulse tubing.
Greg: How about wedge DP flowmeters?
Hunter: The wedge DP flowmeter measures
volumetric flow. Liquid moves through
a wedge-type restriction in a pipe, caus-
ing a DP due to the Bernoulli Effect. The
www.ControlGlobal.com
meter usually uses capillary seals to mea-
sure DP. Good: A wedge meter can handle
sticky, viscous fluids that might plug an
orifice plate. Bad: A wedge meter is more
expensive than an orifice meter because
the transmitter usually includes two seals
as well as the wedge assembly. The meter
needs a fairly long meter run. The perma-
nent pressure drop is significant. Ugly: Very
high temperatures may exceed the limits of
the diaphragm seals.
Stan: What about other meters?
Hunter: Other, less common meters used to
measure liquid flows include turbine meters,
positive displacement (PD) meters, and
ultrasonic flowmeters, among many others.
Turbine and PD meters are not used as
often due to wear issues with moving parts,
susceptibility to damage from solids, and/
or limited conditions in which they function.
For custody transfer of pure, clean liquids,
they can be the right choice. Nearly every
pump at a gas station has a PD meter.
Greg: Stay tuned—in a future column, we’ll
discuss gas flowmeters.
eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  7

Wireless flow measurement
Power remains the essential challenge; here are ways to meet it.
By Ian Verhappen, Senior Project Manager, Automation, CIMA+
F
low measurement techniques
continue to grow and evolve with
new methods such as multipath
ultrasonic, magnetic and Coriolis increasing
at the expense of more traditional
technologies such as orifice, weir and
other differential pressure (DP)-based
techniques. The increased use of these
new technologies is partly a result of the
increased capability of microprocessors
and sensors to enable measurements not
possible without enhancements in these
areas. Another reason for their adoption
is that, in most cases, they also provide
higher accuracy and rangeability than
DP technologies. But most of these flow
measurement techniques tend to require
more energy than DP flowmeters, and
hence aren’t well suited for deployment as
wireless devices.
www.ControlGlobal.com
A colleague on one of the international
standards teams I belong to indicated at a
recent meeting, during a conversation on
wireless and batteries, that their company
has only been able to find one source for
a battery suitable for their wireless trans-
mitters to meet a 10-year service life. This
is, of course, with periodic recharging.
Other rechargeable batteries tend to have
‘memory’ and other problems resulting in
operating life of closer to five years.
A bigger concern with using wireless for flow
measurement is the dynamics of the process
itself. The majority of flow loops, especially
for liquids (incompressible fluids) have very
short process response times, often in the
order of seconds, unlike temperature and
level, which tend to be much longer (argu-
ably measureable in minutes). Therefore,
eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  8

if using a wireless sensor for flow control,
you’ll need a rapid update rate for the trans-
mitter at a minimum, which of course leads
to short battery life, and consequently make
the economics for cable look better.
Of course, it would help if it were possible
to develop the perpetual motion machine
and scavenge some energy from differ-
ent flowmeters to maintain or charge the
batteries. For example, if the frequen-
cy-shedding bar of a vortex meter, or
paddle/turbine in those forms of meters,
or pulsations in a positive-displacement
meter could drive some form of coil while
not affecting the measurement proper, this
would eliminate the energy concern for
each of these forms of meter.
One way to address the response time issue
is to increase the capability of the flow
device by adding the ability to perform as
a single-loop or self-contained flow con-
troller. Then the control loop only requires
transmission of the output to the final con-
trol element and remote HMI when such
a change is required, which isn’t likely to
be every sensing or update cycle (assum-
ing the control system can accept some
degree of dead band on the signal). If the
dead band isn’t acceptable, then having the
transmitter update the control system for
historian and measurement purposes every
cycle and the output directly to the device
www.ControlGlobal.com
“as needed” is a much more complex sit-
uation of managing different update rates
from one device depending on data type.
An alternative to every-cycle updates that
may be acceptable is using a totalization
option for the update rate to the con-
trol system, which risks losing raw data
granularity. With all these features, the
transmitter is getting closer to the Open
Process Automation (OPA) forum’s vision
of a device control node (DCN), and closer
to a SCADA RTU field controller being
monitored and controlled (i.e., changing
setpoint) remotely from the central control
station. SCADA typically includes wireless
but again, with longer update cycles and
the need for intelligence at the field end.
As the above discourse indicates, moni-
toring versus controlling has a significant
impact on system design. The apparently
simple choice of monitor versus control
or custody transfer affects not only the
type of sensor required, but as we can see,
how that device interacts with the control
system and other devices within the con-
trol system. Though true for more than
flow measurement, the impact is more
pronounced with fast control loops such
as flow, regardless of how innovative we
try to be to overcome the basic principles
and reason for which the system is being
installed.
eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  9
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Custody transfer
flow measurement
Why can a DP flowmeter be used for gas but not liquid?
By Béla Lipták
Q:
I’m interested to know why
orifice differential pres-
sure (DP) flowmeters aren’t
used in liquid metering systems (for cus-
tody transfer purposes), whereas they’re
widely used in gas metering systems?
What makes an orifice flowmeter a viable,
cost-effective choice for gas metering sys-
tems only?
A. Rashimi
a.rahimi.aut@gmail.com
A: The short answer is that orifices are
used for both, but because custody trans-
fer (fiscal metering) is such an important
topic (see Chapter 2.20 in volume one
of my handbook), I will give a more
detailed answer.
www.ControlGlobal.com
Flowmeter selection can be based on gov-
ernment regulations, industry or national
standards, and contractual agreements, and
can also be subject to the approval of such
organizations as API, AGA and ISO.
The acceptable uncertainty in the quan-
tity of transferred liquid or gas determines
meter selection. The uncertainty is the
sum of the errors of all components of the
metering system. In case of volumetric
flowmeters, this includes errors by flow,
pressure, temperature, density, composition
sensors, their A/D converters, and in cal-
culating the amount of energy (not mass,
but energy) transferred. The hydrocarbon
industry claims that custody transfer oper-
ates at an uncertainty of ±0.25% on liquid
and ±1.0% or better on gas service, but I
consider these numbers overly optimistic.
eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  11
 www.ControlGlobal.com

Table I lists flowmeters that can be used A typical liquid custody transfer skid
to measure hydrocarbon liquids and gases. includes multiple flowmeters (master
The table also gives the chapter numbers and operating meters), flow computers
where each is described in my handbook, and meter provers. For pipe sizes below
their accuracies (if they’re correctly sized, 42-in. diameter (1.07 m), onsite provers
installed and maintained), and other main can be used and API requires prover
features. Table I doesn’t list their first accuracy to be 0.02%. The meter prover
costs because, in larger transactions, the volume is calibrated against Seraphin
cost differences between meters are small cans, whose precise volume is traceable to
in comparison to the cost of measure- NIST. Recalibrations should be performed
ment errors. frequently, typically before, during and after
the batch transfer.
For example, when oil costs $60/barrel and
we’re unloading a 500,000-barrel tanker, Béla Lipták
each 0.1% uncertainity corresponds to liptakbela@aol.com
$50,000. In cases of smaller quantities, meter
cost differences can be considered, and if
accuracy is not critical, one can determine the A: Orifice meters are still widely used for
transferred quantity without flowmeters, just liquid measurements and have been for
by measuring the level change of liquids or many years. The orifice meter accuracy is
pressure change of gases. much affected by the details of installation,

TABLE I: FLOWMETERS USED IN CUSTODY TRANSFER

Features Orifice and (Venturi) Coriolis Rotary PD liquid (gas) Turbine dual helical Ultrasonic, multipath
Chapter(s) 2.21-2.34 2.16 2.24, 2.25 2.31 2.32
Accuracy at max. flow 1% (0.25%) 0.15% 0.2% (1%-2%) Liq: 0.25%, Gas: 0.5% Liq: 0.25%, Gas: 0.5%
Accuracy at min. flow 2% (0.5%) 1% 0.1% (2%) Liq: 0.5%, Gas: 1.0% Liq: 0.5%, Gas: 1.0%
Rangeability 3:1-4:1 Up to 100:1 ~ 15:1 Liq: 10:1, Gas: >20:1 >20:1
Reynolds (RE) limitations >10,000 (>100,000) Debated Insensitive Insensitive < 2,000 and >8,000
Size range 0.5-24 in. (1-120 in.) 1.0 mm to 16 in. 1-18 Liq: 1-20, Gas: 2-12 in. Liq: 2- >12, Gas: 2- >42 in.
Straight run up/downstream 20/5 (5/0-3) None None 15-20/5 20/5
Pressure Drop High (low) ~ 10 psid High ~ 5 psid Low
Installation Critical Not critical Not critical Important Important
High because High because
Maintenance High (high) Low Low
moving parts moving parts
Mass flow or multphase No Yes No No No
Moving parts No Vibration Yes Yes No
Bidirectional Some w/2DP Yes No Some Yes

eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  12


and comments about poor accuracy can
usually be explained by poor installation.
The advantages and disadvantages of
the various meter technologies are well
known, and the available technologies
have changed. One example is how Coriolis
meters have become more popular as the
technology has matured and competition
has driven prices down. It’s clear that meter
selection is heavily affected by pipe size. I
find it hard to imagine a Coriolis meter in a
one-meter-diameter pipeline. And the cost?
National and international standards can
affect decisions. Custody contracts may
well have statements limiting options. It
can happen that non-technical people write
those contracts.
I’m prejudiced, but I have the impression
that salespeople tend to suggest the more
expensive choices in their catalogs.
In the decision process, it’s common to
underestimate the costs and details of
installation for the various flowmeters.
Accuracy is expensive.
I once developed a program to aid in
flowmeter selection. The user entered
information about the fluid and flows. The
program then displayed a list of possi-
ble meter types with costs, accuracy and
permanent pressure loss. This brought inter-
esting comments challenging estimated
eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  13
www.ControlGlobal.com
costs and accuracy. Support for this
program went away as the costs of mainte-
nance would be high as the data changed.
Good question, and we need to discuss
these things.
Cullen Langford
CullenL@aol.com
A: Orifice flow measurement is at best
±4% accurate. In spite of this, it was used
for custody transfer of liquids for many
years until better and more accurate
instruments became available. Today,
the Coriolis flowmeter is the standard for
liquid flow custody transfer due to its high
accuracy and often because it directly
measures mass flow instead of volumetric
flow. It’s expensive, so sometimes if
liquid is transferred from tank to tank, the
before and after tank level measurements
are used for custody transfer of liquids.
However, that requires very accurate tank
level measurement.
Measuring the flow of gases with an
orifice flowmeter with compensation for
temperature and pressure is typical for
natural gas transmission, but that still
doesn’t make it accurate. In most cases,
the low value of natural gas makes it
uneconomical to spend extra money on
more accurate gas flow measurement. For
high-value gases, it’s possible to use Coriolis

flowmeters or a high-accuracy, positive-
displacement meter. Sometimes, custody
transfer of gases is calculated from a
change in pressure of the source of the gas,
such as a cylinder.
Orifice flow measurement depends on
Bernoulli’s law that relates pressure drop
thorough a sharp-edge orifice to volumetric
flow rate. The pressure drop is between the
upstream pressure (before the orifice) and
the pressure at the vena contracta formed
by the increased velocity of the liquid or
gas as it passes through the orifice. Unfor-
tunately, the location of the vena contracta
varies with the flow rate, so there’s no prac-
tical way to measure this pressure drop.
We do the best we can, and usually just
measure the pressure drop at the flanges
that hold the orifice plate in place, and
depend on a correlation (approximation)
to estimate the pressure drop at the vena
contracta, or just assume that the pressure
drop at the orifice is the same as that of the
vena contracta.
Richard H. Caro, CEO, CMC Associates
RCaro@CMC.us
eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  14
www.ControlGlobal.com
A: One of the biggest reasons why ori-
fice plates are not used for liquid custody
metering has to do with the following:
1. During startup, while the flow stabilizes,
the error in measurment is generally
unacceptable. The same happens when
the system is shut down.
2. Sizing an orifice plate to guarantee cus-
tody transfer precision requirements
generally requires the orifice plate to be
designed and fabricated to extreme tol-
erances that not every company can do.
3. The turndown ratio for liquid orifice
plates would require users to have too
many orifice plates available for when
flow conditions change.
To summarize, though custody transfer can
be performed with orifice plates, it’s not
recommended due to the fact that signal
instability can cause accounting errors; design
and fabrication of orifice plates is very expen-
sive; and finally, if the custody transfer is
based on varying flowrates, then the need for
additional orifice plates is increased.
Alex (Alejandro) Varga
vargaalex@yahoo.com
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Vortex flowmeter calibration
and rangeability
How can we determine the best size to balance accuracy against
pressure drop?
By Béla Lipták
Q
: I have a question regarding
vortex flowmeters and hope that
you can clear it up. The line size is
3 in.; the flow is minimum 6 m3/hr, normal
20 m3/hr, maximum 22 m3/hr. The vendor
suggested using a 3-in. Endress+Hauser
(E+H) Prowirl vortex flowmeter with min-
imum flow 4.03 m3/hr, maximum flow
138.22 m3/hr. That unit has a three-point
calibration (30%, 45% and 65%). My client
has the following questions:
1. Why has the vortex flowmeter not been
calibrated for a lesser span range of
0-25 m3/hr?
2. What happens if the flow drops below
4 m3/hr?
Can you let me know if my selected size
is acceptable or I should use a smaller
eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  16
www.ControlGlobal.com
meter? If I keep the 3-in. meter, is it possi-
ble to use it over this range of 4 m3/hr to
25 m3/hr?
Also, as the flowmeter has a Foundation
Fieldbus transmitter, is it possible to con-
figure the span in the transmitter?
W.Watson.
watsonsingh@gmail.com
A: You did not name the process fluid, or
even indicate if it is a gas, liquid or steam,
therefore the correctness of selecting a
vortex meter for the application can’t be
checked (for selection guidance see Table
2.1a in Volume 1 in my handbook).
Meter sizing: I usually select a maximum
meter flow of 1.5 times the maximum
 www.ControlGlobal.com

process flow. Therefore, if your flow range if they do not, you should also consider the
is 6-22 (rangeability of 3.7), I would look energy cost of operation, which also rises as
for a maximum meter reading of 33 or so. the size is reduced. (For the velocity heads
The available ranges of this vendor’s meter of some flowmeters, see Table I).
are 1-34 for 1.5 in., 1.5-53 for 2 in., and 4-138
for 3 in., and therefore, I’d consider a 1.5 in. The operating costs can be calculated as:
meter, but there are other considerations.
$/yr = C($/kWh)(∆P)(F)(SpG)/(%)
Reynolds number (Re): Assuming that the
selection of a vortex meter is correct and where:
it’s on liquid service, the inaccuracy will be
around 0.75% actual reading (AR) if the Re, C: C
 orrection factor for the units used (C is
even at minimum flow, is above 20,000. If 0.65 if the flow is in gpm and the pres-
it’s below that, you can expect an error of sure loss is in psid)
about 1.0% full scale (FS). So the smaller the
meter, the less the error. For liquids, Re can %: efficiency of the pump or compressor
be calculated using:
Flowmeter type Permanent
(in velocity heads) pressure loss
Re = 3,160 Gf Qf / Dμ
Orifice plates Over 4
Vortex shedding About 2
where: Positive displacement 1 to 1.5
Turbine 0.5 to 1.5

Gf: process fluid specific gravity at 60 °F Flow tubes Under 0.5

(15.5 °C) Table I: Velocity head requirements of

different flowmeter designs

Qf: liquid flow in gpm (1 m3/hr = 4.4 gpm)

D: pipe inside diameter (in inches)
μ: viscosity of the process fluid
(in centipoises)
Pressure drop and operating cost: Obvi-
ously, the smaller the meter, the higher the
pressure drop. Therefore, you must check
if cavitation or flashing will occur, and even
So, if the cost of electricity is $0.1/kWh
and the pumping efficiency is 60%, the
operating cost in a water measurement
application is:
$/yr = 0.635 (gpm) (psid)
Straight pipe run requirements: The
meter should be installed at self-draining
low points or in vertical upward flows to

eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  17

 www.ControlGlobal.com

keep it flooded, and five or more straight

pipe diameters (D) upstream from all
disturbance sources (regulators, valves,
thermowells, pressure taps, etc.) in areas
where there is no excessive pipe vibration.
The upstream (inlet side) straight pipe
diameter requirements are: 15D from a
Nm3/h t/h
reducer, 20D after a single elbow, 25D after m3/h

two elbows in the same plane, 40D after

kWh

fact
two elbows in different planes, and 50D
°C
after regulators or control valves.

Historical note: The vortex phenomenon

was discovered by Tódor von Kármán while Monitoring a variety
he was fishing in a fast spring in Hunga- of energy flows with
ry’s Transylvania region. He noted that the a single device
swirls that are formed after the rocks were OPTISWIRL 4200 –
the same distance from each other, no technology driven by
matter how fast the water was flowing. That KROHNE
• Gross and net heat measure-
observation became the basis not only of ment for hot water and steam,
this flowmeter, but also of much of the sci- compressed air (FAD) or gas
burner consumption
ence of space exploration. monitoring
• Vortex flowmeter with online
density compensation through
Béla Lipták integrated pressure and
temperature sensors
liptakbela@aol.com

A: The 3 in. vortex is way oversized for

your application. Normal rule of thumb for
vortex flowmeter sizing is at least one line
size smaller than the pipe size for most
applications. Looking at your requirements,
a 1.5 in. vortex would actually give the best
results because it has an approximately
0.95 to 34 m3/hr range. A 2 in. meter would products
solutions
also do, as it has a range of approximately services
1.5 to 53 m3/hr.
More facts about the OPTISWIRL 4200:
us.krohne.com/optiswirl4200
eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  18

Vortex units are velocity meters. They rely
on vortex shedding and require a certain
minimum flow velocity to generate the vor-
tices (the frequency is linearly related to
the fluid velocity). However, below a certain
velocity, you do not get vortices (and can’t
measure flow).
Each of the sizes measure the same veloc-
ity range (if they are the same style). The
area then gives you the equivalent volume
flow. All the vendor websites have technical
details on how vortex meters work, includ-
ing the basic equation. I suggest that you
review the material.
Simon Lucchini, CFSE, MIEAust CPEng
(Australia), Chief Controls Specialist, Fluor
Fellow in Safety Systems
Simon.Lucchini@fluor.com
A: To answer your first question, the vortex
meter can be spanned to something less
than the maximum calibrated range. If you
don’t specifically give them a different
range, they will, by default, span the meter
to the full range.
On your second question, if the flow drops
below 4 m /hr, the reading will drop to
3
zero. This is called “low-flow cutoff.” A
vortex meter requires the flow to be in the
turbulent flow regime to function correctly.
As the flow drops to the transitional (or
laminar) flow regimes, it will stop shedding
vortices and the meter reading will become
eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  19
www.ControlGlobal.com
erratic and then drop out. Note that the
exact point where this occurs depends on
the Reynolds number of the fluid, so if the
density and/or viscosity are different than
water, the actual low-flow cutoff point
will vary from the published value. (The
published value is based on water.) Most
vortex manufacturers have programs that
calculate the exact low-flow cutoff point for
your application. (E+H has their Applicator
program, which you can access online).
Finally, based on the little process informa-
tion you provided, I would agree that 3 in.
probably is oversized. A 2 in. meter has a
minimum linear flow of 2.7 and a max range
of 61.6 m3/hr, which is well within your
specs. In fact, you could even drop to a 1.5 in.
meter size. However, do note that that pres-
sure drop will rise with each drop in meter
size. In addition, you’ll need to reduce the
pipe size far enough upstream and down-
stream of the meter to make sure you have a
good straight run to obtain good accuracy.
Note that your 3 in. meter will work, but
you’ll be unable to read much below 4 m3/
hr. If low flows are expected, you’ll either
need to downsize the meter or consider a
different technology.
P. Hunter Vegas, Wunderlich Malec
phvegas50@gmail.com
A: To the question on configuration, the
answer is yes. Some handheld configurators

are also capable of configuring Foundation
Fieldbus instruments. You may use your
Foundation Fieldbus configurator, which is
often the DCS itself, or software for strat-
egy building running on a PC attached to
your Foundation Fieldbus network. This is
the same software you would use to field
test your device connection and set its tag
name, limits, etc.
The device has an upper range limit and has
a zero default for the lower range limit. You
specify these values when you configure the
AI function block for this flowmeter. E+H
user manuals are available on the Internet
at the E+H website. If you are using Foun-
dation Fieldbus instruments, your DCS must
supply software to configure all field instru-
ments using the parameters of their DCS or
Device Descriptions. Refer to the documen-
tation from your DCS supplier.
eHANDBOOK: 2018 Flow Measurement, Part II  20
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You received a standard 3 in. vortex meter
from E+H. Your meter was flow calibrated
for the stated range. As delivered, the
span of this meter is set for 0–138.22 m3/
hr. If you had ordered this meter to be cali-
brated for your desired span of 0–25 m3/hr,
they would have charged you more for the
custom calibration, but you did not order
that way. As delivered, the 20 mA output
will have a span of 138.22 m3/hr.
This is a HART instrument and the span
can be easily changed to 0-25 m3/hr using
a HART handheld (275/375) device. It is
most likely to be even more linear over your
reduced range than the original range.
Dick Caro
RCaro@cmc.us